An
American family named the Carters is on a
vacation and travels through the American
soutwest to go on a camping trip. They
end up in the middle of nowhere in a
desert but there's a gas station as they
load up some gas and asks the owner where
to turn to go to their destination. The
owner there is very eccentric and gives
them the wrong directions while someone
is watching them.
Then a trap is set as it causes their
tires to go flat and they all think
they're stranded so their father named
Bob Carter (Ted Levine) who is a retired
policeman hikes down to the gas station
and his son in law named Doug Bukowski
(Aaron Stanford) tries to hike down
another roadway to see if he can find
someone but the road leads to a dead end
with stranded vehicles and other
belongings. He also realises it was once
an area for a nuclear testing used by the
US government.
He returns with some belongings as it
gets dark. One of their dogs takes off as
it spots something strange. The youngest
son in the family named Bobby (Dan Byrd)
finds his dog slaughtered but is too
disturbed to tell his family what has
happened.
They still wait for their father to
return but he is knocked unconcious and
kidnapped. Then later on he is burned
alive in front of his family and a group
of cannibal terrorists kills, rapes
tortures and eats some of the family
members.
They also kidnap Doug's baby and kills
his wife Lynne (Vinessa Shaw). He brings
along his other dog to try and track down
the cannibalistic killers and get his
baby back while two of the surviving kids
plan a booby trap for them.
It seems that the
mid millenium is remaking cult horror
classics like this one and the story is
almost the exact same except for the
scene where the in-law spots the ghost
town where the cannibals live in.
This film is still very intense,
disturbing and effective like the
original or even more so thanks to Wes
Craven producing this remake like he
directed and wrote the original.
The acting is very
good with an awesome cast. Lead actor Aaron
Stanford pulls it off nicely playing
a jack ass in law of the family with his
fresh remarks as he makes the role very
meaty plus has dynamic energy with his
performance with battling these freaks.
Emile de Ravin was terrific with her
crying emotions in the film and knew how
to freak out too. She pulled it off well
that I didn't know that she portrayed the
school bully Chris Hargenson in the
remake of Carrie. She is
in this remake too as both of the
original films are 70's classics.
Dan Byrd was another actor full of
energy as the youngest in the family
apart from the baby and can really pack a
punch with his performance.
I enjoyed Ted Levine's part as
the overly sarcastic ex-cop and stands
out the most in the film and is a true
chracter actor.
We also have well done performances by
the cannibalistic killers who brings
their psychotic roles to life such as
Robert Joy as one of the head
maniacs who was convincing by being
freaky.
Michael Bailey Smith stood out way
more than Michael Berryman for his role
as Pluto as he looks convincingly
powerful.
Laura Ortiz pulled it off as an
innocent one and you really feel like
protecting her as she seems so innocent.
The gore is very
different here compared to the original
as this is the goriest flick I've seen
since Violent Shit (Which
is still the goriest one so far).
We have a slaughtered dog with a paw torn
of
Ripped off arms
Head blown off
Decapitations
Guts being eaten
Plenty of blood and lots more.
Alexandre Aja has
a promising career as a director as he
drove this film to be truly disturbing
and shocking with the acting, scenery and
sounds.
There are nice shots on supporting actor
Tom Bower acting strange at his gas
station looking for someone in the windy
desert.
Theres a good close up shot
on some spikes on the road with the
trailer driving towards it.
We have a nice smart ass dialogue that
starts off with Aaron Stanford
talking to Dan Byrd in the
trailer while they're driving about
smoking and other stuff. We also see good
smart remarks by supporting actor Ted
Levine while driving being sarcastic
by being crude when he tells his kids not
to swear which tries to be humorous but I
didn't find it convincingly funny.
Theres a nice shot from a distance with a
look of binoculars on the family stranded
in the desert and nice creepy voices
talking too.
Dan Byrd does well running towards
the rocky hills to find his dog and shows
nice concerned expressions on his face
and really let it out when he spots his
dead dog and tries to run away which
looked suspensefully paced as you wonder
if he will make it.
There's a great shot of Stanford
walking by and spotting some torn up
vehicles in the gusting wind as well as a
terrific shot on the rocky grounds in the
desert where bombs hit with hundreds of
other vehicles.
Byrd does well by trying to spit out
the words of what he has to tell Stanford's
character o what had happened but is
hesitant which keeps you occupied
wondering if he will actually tell him.
We have a nice silent setting on Levine
walking in the gas station and calling
around but no one is there. He looks good
when he takes out his gun after apotting
a cut off ear in a container trying to be
cautious.
He looked great pointing a gun at Bower
as he acts very strangely sitting in an
outhouse.
The setting is most scary when Levine
hears words calling to him and it's pitch
black and he starts shooting his gun at
whatever is out there.
A nice shot of him being dragged away
into an abandoned minining tunnel which
makes you wonder what's going to happen
next.
A nice shot on Emile de Ravin sleeping
in the trailer while a hand is touching
her and then a creepy close up shot on Michael
Bailey Smith with an evil grin on
his face.
He also knew how to be rough on her by
grabbing her and covering her mouth and
trying to rape her. Ravin reacts
well by freaking out about this.
A nice dark shot on Byrd running
towards the rocky hills and getting
scared when he hears the voices calling
to him.
He really does well at crying out towards
both Stanford and Vinessa
Shaw when he explains to them what
happened to one of their dogs and that
something is out there as he does it
marvellously.
There's a better shot on the burning body
scene than in the original which is
performed by Levine and everyone
is frantic trying to put out the flames
which. All of this happening looked truly
intense and disturbing.
Both Stanford and Byrd
pump of the intensity towards one another
arguing about going out there and killing
those freaks.
Good shots on Stanford looking
around the ghost town with dummies being
displayed on chairs and swings.
It looked suspenseful when he enters a
house trying to rescue his baby with
letting supporting actor Gregory
Nicotero as one of the deformed
locals catching him while watching TV.
There is also a suspenseful shot on
Stanford trapped in a freezer with
pieces of dead people with him as he
pulls alot of might trying to break open
the freezer door.
There great fact action battles between Stanford
and Smith with axe swinging
action as well as Smith taking
you by surprise by crashing through some
walls.
Stanford also does a nice battling
scene with Robert Joy while
trying to save his baby.
There's dynamic energy on de Ravin
when she charges with a pick axe close to
the end of the film which was one of her
best directions.
Tom
and Andy are excellent as well
with the low sounds and the surprising
thumping during the terrifying and
suspenseful moments.
So far they are the top composer for
horror films of the year in my books.
We have a
sountrack performed by Webb Pierce, Moot
Davis, Wires on Fire, The Go, Elaine
Suchow, Vault, Circe Link, The Vanguards,
Buddy Stuart and The Finalist.
Gas Station Attendant:
Ruby, is that you?
Bobby Carter: Can
you hand me a twinkie?
Lizard: [Pluto is
raping Brenda. Lizard comes over to him
and starts beating him] You gotta be
a man to do that!
Ethel
Carter: Is Big Bob back?
Doug Bukowski: Not yet
Doug
Bukowski: Bobby, where are you going?
Bobby Carter: Fucking kill those
motherfuckers!
Doug
Bukowski: [while searching for
baby Katherine, Doug encounters Big
Brains] Where's my daughter?
Big Brain: Big Brains:
Big Brain: [wheezing]
Big Brain: I don't know where she
is, I never leave this place. Your people
asked our families to leave the towns,
and you destroyed our homes. We went into
the mines, you set off your bombs, and
turned everything to ashes. You made us
what we've become. Boom! Boom! Boom!
Big Brain: [Laughs]
Doug Bukowski: What's so Funny?
Big Brain: It's breakfast time!
[Suddenly Pluto breaks through the
door with an axe and swings it at Doug]
Small
Deformed Child: Mister, will you play
with us?
Doug
Bukowski: Give me back my baby!
Brenda
Carter: [Papa Jupiter has just
been impaled in an explosion, but he is
not fully dead. Brenda comes charging out
of nowhere with a pick-axe and slams it
into the mutants head - killing him]
Fucker!
Brenda
Carter: Come on, let's get out of
here. Oh, my God. Look, Bobby.
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